Are Women As Good As Men In Information Technology?

Women vs Men.

Posing the question of whether one gender is better than the other is like placing yourself below cracking ice. It is a frightful situation, and one sudden move can cause you to sink to the freezing bottom. Yet, hearing the answers to this question is a risk worth taking. In these cases, it is not a matter of finding a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer, but applying critical thinking to assess the social sphere that surrounds us to take the first step to making a difference.

Socialisation and Women

Despite the intimidation, CSSrs were less than hesitant to take steps onto the ice. Women’s socialisation was an integral point explored. Where some men argued that women were under-skilled and had a lack of passion, socialisation was argued to be the cause. CSSrs argued that there is a significant amount of pressure from society that conditions women to believe they should study social sciences. This causes women who study information technology to suffer from a lack of confidence. CSSrs also pointed out because there were few women in top positions in the field, there was no one to look up to. Whether the point held merit, a CSSr reasoned that if women did not feel supported because of the lack of female mentors, they should not consider that as a dead-end. They should see it as a stepping stone to being that someone both women and men can respect.

Socialisation and Men

As the session continued, it was argued that socialisation did not only affect the mentality of women, but men as well. A CSSr argued that men in hiring positions often overlooked the I.T skills of women to hire men because they are conditioned to believe that men will perform a technological job better. The CSSr pointed out that women were often hired as secretaries despite their credentials in I.T. Another CSSr also contended that a woman is paid a lower salary than her male counterpart.

Another perspective considered was that there wasn’t a disparity between men and women at all. What made it appear that way was that men dominated the field, and therefore there were more cases of men in I.T with achievements.

Gender or Personality?

A CSSr argued that there were women who were not passionate about I.T, but there were also men who felt this way about the field. Gender to them did not determine passion or skill, but a person’s personality and ability. One CSSr disapproved with the session entirely and felt as though it was a waste of time. He said it created rhetoric that women would better appreciate but it wouldn’t change anything. Another CSSr argued however, that bringing consciousness to the problem was important to building the bridge that would then lead to change.

Which Gender is Better Then?

In the end, no one agreed with the idea that men were better than women in I.T (or at least they didn’t say so). The general consensus was that there were persons with exceptional I.T skills and there were persons whose skills were hardly refined. The most important point acknowledged was that gender should never be used to draw the line between good and bad. Persons should always be respected for what they can do no matter who they are.